The influence of crude oil-contaminated and remediated sites on agrifood production is not clearly understood. To address this knowledge gap, the research was divided into two stages involving: (1) assessment of the efficiency of two bioremediation strategies to support hydrocarbons degradation as well as agrifood production with the initial analysis of the experimental materials, and (2) evaluation of the effect of different crude oil remediation intervention values (CRIV) on selected vegetables (Brassica juncea, Brassica oleracea, Lactuca sativa and two different cultivars of Solanum lycopersicum). Results from the first stage showed that the crude oil used had a pristane/phytane ratio of 0.98 (within the 0.8 – 3.0 range of most crude oils), higher concentrations of C10 – C14, C15 – C20 and C21 – C27 alkanes than the C28 – C36 alkanes including higher concentrations of two of the US EPA priority pollutant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - phenanthrene and anthracene. Four treatments were prepared in which weekly tillage enhanced the degradation of C15 – C20 and C21 - C27 alkanes in the Remediation by Enhanced Natural Attenuation (RENA) treatment. The two bioremediation strategies (RENA and bioaugmentation) enhanced PAHs degradation compared with the remediation-study control treatment while only RENA application among the two approaches supported the growth of B. juncea. Although there was no statistical significant difference (p > 0.05) between the major dietary mineral contents of samples from the various treatments compared with the control treatment samples, RENA application affected the Cr, Zn and Pb contents. Meanwhile, the Ca/P (> 1.0) and Na/K (< 0.60) ratios of all the harvested samples imply that they provide a good source of these minerals for bone formation and would not contribute to high blood pressure. The crude oil used also deterred the attack of juvenile caterpillars of cabbage white butterfly. Findings from the second stage revealed that the yield of the green leafy vegetables including one of the selected tomato cultivars (Micro-Tom), was in most cases impaired at CRIV ≥ 3,000 mg/kg total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). Compared with the control treatment samples’ composition, crude oil stress at 10,000 mg/kg TPH enhanced the concentration of K, Mn and crude protein of B. oleracea and L. sativa as well as the sucrose, total sugars, total phenolics and total flavonoids contents of the latter vegetable. Sucrose was also only detected in M82 tomato cultivar samples from the crude oil-containing treatments. The Cd content of B. oleracea, Pb contents of: L. sativa and M82 tomato harvested samples were all below the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission 2015 recommended maximum levels. However, tartaric acid was only detected in B. oleracea and L. sativa samples from the 10,000 mg/kg TPH treatment as well as in M82 tomato cultivar samples from the treatment involving CRIV of 5,000 mg/kg TPH. Generally, the yield of these crops in response to crude oil contamination varied in which B. juncea had the least tolerance to crude oil stress among the green leafy vegetables tested. Most of the quality parameters in the two tomato cultivars were not affected by CRIV between 750 - 5,000 mg/kg TPH with p-xylene having the greatest toxic potential among the VOCs emitted from the 5,000 mg/kg TPH treatment. The research findings, under the experimental conditions, indicated the effectiveness of RENA for the degradation of low molecular weight PAHs and its agricultural benefits. They also suggest that crude oil-contaminated sites at ≤ 3,000 mg/kg TPH present a similar growing environment to a clean site for agrifood production and the possibility that crude oil stress at 10,000 mg/kg TPH could enhance crop quality. Nonetheless, the contribution of bio- accumulated PAHs in these crops to the food chain demands further investigation.

North American food environments have gone through dramatic shifts over the past six decades. During this period, we have witnessed the consolidation of a globalizing industrial agrifood regime, accompanied by new types of foods available and an excess of marketing. In recent years however, a growing number of scholars, environmentalists, rural organizations and consumers have highlighted the negative environmental and social impacts of this model of large scale, intensive monocultures. Another critique that has been more and more common is the lack of a comprehensive food literacy among youth populations. This thesis starts from the assumption that such knowledge is crucial to equip younger generations with the ability to understand the connections among these issues, to make conscious and informed choices and become engaged citizens, participating in transforming today’s predominantly unsustainable agrifood systems. This is essential as younger generations are the future consumers, heads of households and decision-makers in Canadian society. As such, one of the primary objectives of this research was to (re)situate the concept of food literacy amidst the many literatures while also providing an original comprehensive framework of analysis, reaffirming both its health and well-being and agrifood systems components. Consequently, and based on such assessments, the thesis offers an original and exploratory analysis of high school students’ food literacy levels. Using a mixed methods approach, it draws from qualitative and quantitative primary data resources and secondary literature to survey and compare eight groups of students in grades 9 and 10 in Ontario. Four of these groups took a food-related class and four were control groups, between two different types of food-related curricula. The research shows that a majority of the high school students who participated in the study have a basic level of food literacy. This is especially notable when including socio-environmental considerations in order to assess their level of agrifood systems’ literacy, which is the main focus and contribution that this research sought to evaluate.

Yes / This paper explores the multidimensional effects of an external non-tariff measure (NTM) on maritime transportation between the United States (US) and Puerto Rico (PR) trades. In particular, this research addresses the vulnerability level of PR’s agrifood sector in relation to sustainability as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) highly influenced by a larger economy. Due to the high potential of climate changes in the Caribbean, this study reviewed the effects of a maritime cabotage policy on a SIDS agribusinesses’ logistic. Could a NTM affect the supply chain capabilities and the food security of a SIDS? What challenges and opportunities does the US Cabotage policy present for PR’s agricultural sector’s competitiveness? Based on mixing empirical analysis in an exploratory convergent design, the research categorizes the cabotage policy in relation to the effects on PR’s agrifood supply chain, its port infrastructure, and its native agribusinesses’ competitiveness. Results show the maritime cabotage itself is a constraint. However, the interactions with others NTMs, indirectly related to the cabotage but inherent to the political status and business relationship between PR and the US, add other limits. In addition, it revealed that internal factors have an impact on the efficiency and competitiveness of PR’s agro-industrial sector.

This dissertation ethnographically explores the social concerns related to the global, agro-industrial system's impact on many communities' potential for livelihood and health. At the core of this study is the desire to understand the complex and dynamic ways that communities strive to develop, and make sense of, networks that address these wicked problems and to understand how these strategies might aggregate to promote community resiliency. An investigation of alternative food networks (AFNs) was contextualized in one province in Western Turkey. The AFNs were articulated by an ethnographic design that utilized tools from different fields of study. Integrating actor-network theory, new social movements theory, and the nourishing networks framework allowed for robust triangulation of data. I conclude that AFNs in this province are nascent and remain fragmented. At present, AFNs have not been leveraged for community resiliency efforts. However, they hold the seeds of what may become a food sovereignty social movement. This ethnography reveals that the province has assets, including numerous affinity groups, and a durable connection to heritage with strong reverberations of a nature-culture. I illuminate the broad spectrum of submerged and visible actants and actors that prime the AFNs' development. The wide variance creates diffuse and contradictory cultural implications. Actors report they constantly negotiate cultural aspects related to AFNs. They conceptualize this work as a polymorphous phenomenon of fragmented communities and a culture of dependency; but they show fortitude by negotiating multi-phasic actions and multi-vocal resistance messaging. By way of this study I illustrate that their cultural politics take place where economy and identity interface. Actors seek legitimization. They speak of infusing heritage-based ideals into projects. They are firm that agricultural modernization must come from Turkish values. And, they are formulating and strengthening ideological-based discourses. I further clarify their development strategies by showing how AFNs are experimenting with new governance strategies and focusing on social embedding. Promotion of niche markets has begun. However, public and private resources are limited, which hinders the momentum of AFNs. Additional research is needed to better understand the processes for high functioning AFNs in Turkey. / Ph. D.

O presente trabalho de pesquisa se refere às atividades e às relações desenvolvidas em torno da agroindústria brasileira Korin Agropecuária Ltda. Essa empresa possui uma origem peculiar uma vez que foi fundada com o propósito de colocar em prática os princípios, conceitos e métodos originados da Agricultura Natural, sistema agrícola preconizado por Mokiti Okada (Japão, 1882-1955). Okada enfatizou a necessidade de um perfeito equilíbrio entre as atividades humanas e as forças da natureza, para se alcançar bons resultados na produção, privilegiando a segurança dos alimentos, a interação e o respeito à natureza e a saúde e o bem estar socioeconômico dos agentes participantes deste sistema. Segundo Okada, a Agricultura Natural é um dos pilares de sustentação de uma civilização e sociedade ideais, onde a saúde, a prosperidade e a paz são predominantes. Assim, enquanto método produtivo enquadra-se perfeitamente na ideia de uma agricultura sustentável, pelo não uso de adubos químicos solúveis, agrotóxicos, antibióticos, melhoradores de desempenho e outros insumos industriais, veiculando uma abordagem socioambiental da atividade agrícola, com enfoque na qualidade diferenciada dos alimentos. Especificamente sobre a produção avícola de corte e postura convencional discutimos os problemas decorrentes do uso excessivo de antibióticos e promotores de crescimento, apresentando a evolução técnico-produtiva deste sistema de integração vertical alternativo no qual estas substâncias não são utilizadas e o bem estar animal é considerado. Prioritariamente abordamos, neste trabalho, a sustentabilidade sob o ponto de vista da multifuncionalidade da agricultura, tratando também do desenvolvimento da empresa sob a ótica dos Sistemas Agroalimentares Localizados - SIAL. Considerando essas abordagens, realizamos pesquisa qualitativa junto a 28 produtores predominantemente familiares integrados à empresa, aplicando questionário semiestruturado para explorar e analisar suas atitudes, percepções e experiências em relação aos conceitos e métodos da empresa, ao meio ambiente, segurança alimentar e suas condições socioeconômicas. No que diz respeito à sede da empresa, apresentamos um estudo, que contou com nossa colaboração, sobre a sustentabilidade de seu sistema de produção através de método que utiliza indicadores socioambientais, desenvolvido pela Embrapa Meio Ambiente. Trata-se do APOIA - Novo Rural, voltado para análise de unidades produtivas rurais. A análise integrada de sustentabilidade avalia a gestão ambiental do estabelecimento rural, tendo como base o contexto local e as práticas de manejo adotadas. A agroindústria em questão obteve um excelente índice integrado de sustentabilidade (0,87), justificado pelo seu histórico de mais de 20 anos de práticas relacionadas à Agricultura Natural. Peculiarmente, este complexo em torno da Agricultura Natural está inserido na confluência das divisas de duas unidades de conservação do estado de São Paulo, as Áreas de Proteção Ambiental - APA Corumbataí e a APA Piracicaba, o que promove sinergias com vistas a alcançar modelos ambientalmente adequados de produção agroalimentar. Os dados obtidos neste estudo junto aos avicultores integrados nos permitiram verificar que a prática da Agricultura Natural tem contribuído sinergicamente para que as dimensões da multifuncionalidade da agricultura sejam reconhecidas no território em questão, dinamizando e consolidando um sistema agroalimentar localizado sob uma perspectiva de sustentabilidade na produção agropecuária. / This research study refers to the activities and relationships developed around a Brazilian agrifood company named Korin Agropecuária Ltda. With a peculiar origin, this company was founded with the purpose of putting into practice the principles, concepts and methods originated from the Nature Farming system. NF is an agricultural approach created and advocated by Mokiti Okada (Japan, 1882-1955). Okada emphasized the necessity of a perfect balance between human activities and the nature forces in order to achieve good results in the production, favouring food safety, nature interaction and respect, health, and the social-economic well-being of all players of this system. According to Okada, Nature Farming is one of the pillars of true civilization and an ideal society where health, prosperity and peace are predominant. Thus, while a productive method, perfectly fits in the idea of sustainable agriculture since its methodological aspects as the non-use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, growth promoters and other synthetic inputs, leading to a social-environmental approach to agriculture, with a focus on differentiated quality food. Regarding chicken meat and eggs regular production, we discuss the concerns about the overuse of antibiotics and growth promoters, showing the technical evolution of this particularly verticalized system where these substances are not used and the animal welfare is highly take into consideration. As a priority, we address in this work, sustainability from the point of view of the multifunctionality of agriculture and also addressing the company\"s development from the perspective of Localized Agrifood Systems. Considering these approaches, we conducted a qualitative research on twenty eight integrated farmers who are linked to the company, applying semi-structured questionnaire. The objective was to explore and describe their attitudes, perceptions and experiences in relation to the company concepts and methods towards the environment, food safety, and their socio-economic conditions. With regard to corporate headquarters, located in a farm on a rural area, we present a study on the sustainability of the production system through a social-environmental indicator developed by Embrapa, named APOIA - NovoRural. This indicator was designed to analyse rural productive units with focus on the environmental management based on local context. The company have achieved an excellent sustainability index (0.87), due to its history for more than twenty years of Nature Farming\'s handling. Peculiarly this Nature Farming complex is inserted at the confluence of two conservation units of the state of São Paulo, called Environmental Protected Areas of Corumbataí and of Piracicaba, which reinforces the need to search for environmentally suitable models of agrifood production. The data obtained from this study with the integrated farmers have allowed us to verify that the dimensions of multifunctionality of agriculture are being recognized within this particular territory, streamlining and consolidating this agrifood localized system under a sustainability perspective in agriculture.

Small islands developing states (SIDS) sustainability is a United Nations’ aim. Their markets are often influenced by external policies imposed by larger economies. Could an anti-competitive measure affect the food vulnerability of a SIDS? This research examines the effects of an external non-tariff measure (NTM) on Puerto Rico’s (PR) agribusinesses. It explores the effects of a maritime cabotage regulation (US Jones Act) on the affordability and accessibility of produce and grains. PR imports 100% of their needs of grain and over 85% of fresh produce. PR’s food imports are generally from the US and the trade service is restricted to the use of the US maritime transportation. As a result, the supply chain of these two sectors although different, are limited by the US Act that may impact the cost of food, its availability, firms’ efficiency and other structures of production. Using a mixed convergent design, PR’s agrifood supply chains were explored and analysed in relation to the maritime cabotage regulation. Oligopolistic structures and collusion between maritime transporters and local agribusinesses importers limit the access to data, but other internal factors also have a role. Fieldwork shows that while the cabotage regulation itself is a constraint, interaction with others NTM and the current political framework between US and PR are relevant. Factors such as lack of efficiency, poor innovation and a self-limitation of the agribusinesses firms were found. The novelty of this research is the use of mixed methods to evaluate the effects of cabotage on the agrifood supply chain.

In this dissertation, I explore ‘green’ urban development and urban agriculture projects from the perspective of residents of an African American majority neighborhood in Kansas City—who reside in an area referred to as a ‘blighted food desert’ by local policy makers. In Kansas City, extensive city government support exists for urban agricultural projects, which are touted not just as a solution to poverty associated issues such food insecurity and obesity, but also as a remedy for ‘blight,’ violence and crime, and vacant urban land. Specific narratives of Kansas City’s past are used to prop up and legitimate these future visions for, and development projects in, the city. This dissertation lays out an argument for how, in Kansas City, the dominant narrative surrounding urban sustainability, agriculture, and history came to be constructed and informed by white voices, and documents how these narratives, primarily constructed by upper-middle class white local ‘foodies’, are harnessed to support green development projects that marginalize and displace people of color and the poor. Specifically, I draw on 26 months of ethnographic fieldwork to explore how this narrative was constructed and elevated in local policy circles, document the lived consequences of this whitened narrative from the perspective of residents of “food deserts,” and describe historical and current minority-led agricultural projects—which aren’t included in dominant accountings of Kansas City’s development. I also explore agentive actions of racialized groups in opposition to this dominant whitened discourse, documenting how one neighborhood council in Kansas City strategically utilizes urban food project funding to acquire other, more urgently needed, community resources. I bring light to important acts of resistance by some black and brown urban farmers, who explicitly work to shape city space by reinscribing spatialized histories of displacement and racism in Kansas City. In this project I understand racialization and representation as active, not passive, processes, that have the power to determine whose voices are heard, and who has power to shape city space and its use. By untangling the racialized construction of history and space, and drawing on narratives shared by oft-silenced groups, this dissertation project contributes to scholarly work committed to disrupting hegemonic spatialized whiteness (McKittrick 2011).

La tesi analizza le strategie di internazionalizzazione delle imprese agroalimentari di piccole e medie dimensioni, con particolare riferimento al caso italiano. In particolare, vengono prese in esame diverse forme di alleanze strategiche interorganizzative che tali imprese possono adottare per incrementare l'espansione internazionale e l'ingresso in nuovi mercati. A questo proposito, la tesi è essenzialmente articolata in due studi, uno riguardante il lato "a monte" della catena del valore (ossia il mercato di fornitura), e l'altro il versante "a valle", ossia il mercato del cliente finale. / The thesis analyzes agrifood SMEs internationalization strategies, with specific reference to the Italian case. In particular, the study focuses on the different forms of interorganizational strategic networks to foster geographic expansion and foreign market entry. Regarding this matter, moreover, the thesis is basically articulated in two studies, one concerning the upstream side of the value creation system (i.e. the supply market), while the other the downstream side (i.e. customer market).

Submitted by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-23T14:24:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TesePHP.pdf: 2167405 bytes, checksum: 91642530402f1c13ec8549e91ed3d47d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-23T14:24:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TesePHP.pdf: 2167405 bytes, checksum: 91642530402f1c13ec8549e91ed3d47d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-23T14:24:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TesePHP.pdf: 2167405 bytes, checksum: 91642530402f1c13ec8549e91ed3d47d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-23T14:25:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TesePHP.pdf: 2167405 bytes, checksum: 91642530402f1c13ec8549e91ed3d47d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-03 / Não recebi financiamento / The sugarcane generates income for the country through the exportation of sugar, ethanol and more recently through energy cogeneration. The globalization and the fact that the prices of the main sugarcane products are linked to commodities exchange and futures, the sugarcane agricultural industry needs to be competitive in each of the chain agents that comprise it. In this context, the quality of sugarcane is of great importance for the sugarcane chain to be competitive. Total Recoverable Sugar (TRS), which is the main quality requirement of sugarcane as it represents the amount of sugar present in sugarcane, fell by around 10% between the years 2009 and 2015. Other quality requirements for sugarcane as mineral and vegetable impurities increased 18.8% and 42.86% between 2008 and 2013, respectively. These factors justify a model for Quality Management of sugarcane. The main objective of this work is to propose a model for the management of quality in the sugarcane production chain that adds value to it. This model is based on the concepts of integration and Supply Chain Quality Management theory in Chain Supply and Supply Chain Quality Coordination in Agro-Food Production. An empirical investigation of multiple cases is carried out in the main agents of the sugarcane production chain in order to identify the deficiencies and the virtues in light of these theories so that they can provide subsidies for the proposal of the model. The results of this research show that, in most cases, there is no integration between the segments of the chain links of sugarcane both upstream and downstream. The model is evaluated by industry experts. This evaluation demonstrated that the model is capable and sufficient in terms of information to meet the needs of its application, has terms of easy understanding to users and is flexible the characteristics of users. In addition to contain elements necessary for quality coordination, contributing to the improvement and preservation of the quality in the product and to reduce costs and losses in the stages of this production chain. / A cana-de-açúcar gera divisas para o país pela exportação do açúcar e do etanol e mais recentemente pela cogeração de energia elétrica. A globalização e o fato dos preços dos principais produtos sucroenergético estarem atrelados à bolsa de mercadorias e de futuros, a agroindústria sucroenergética precisa ser competitiva em cada um dos agentes da cadeia que a compõem. Nesse contexto, a qualidade da cana-de-açúcar tem grande importância para que a cadeia sucroenergética seja competitiva. O Açúcar Recuperável Total (ATR), que é o principal requisito de qualidade da cana-de-açúcar por representar a quantidade de açúcar presente na cana, caiu cerca de 10% entre os anos de 2009 a 2015. Outros requisitos de qualidade da cana como as impurezas minerais e vegetais aumentaram 18,8% e 42,86% entre 2008 e 2013, respectivamente. Estes fatores justificam um modelo para a Gestão da Qualidade da cana-de-açúcar. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é propor um modelo para a gestão da qualidade na cadeia de produção da cana-de-açúcar que agregue valor à mesma. Esse modelo é baseado nos conceitos de Gestão da Qualidade em Cadeias de Suprimentos e o de Coordenação da Qualidade em Cadeias de Produção Agroalimentares. É realizada uma pesquisa empírica de múltiplos casos nos principais agentes da cadeia de produção da cana-de-açúcar com o intuito de identificar as deficiências e as virtudes à luz dessas teorias para que possam prover subsídios para a proposta do modelo. Os resultados desta pesquisa mostram que, na maioria dos casos, não há integração entre os segmentos dos elos da cadeia da cana-de-açúcar tanto a montante quanto a jusante. O modelo é avaliado por especialistas do setor. Essa avaliação demonstrou que o modelo é capaz e suficiente em termos de informações para atender as necessidades de sua aplicação, possui termos de fácil entendimento aos usuários e é flexível às características dos usuários. Além de conterem elementos necessários para a coordenação da qualidade, contribuindo para a melhoria e preservação da mesma no produto e para a redução de custos e perdas nas etapas desta cadeia produtiva.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The productive flexibility and the increasing importance of goods and services quality are some of the major changes that bound the current phase of capitalism. In this context, strategies capable of promoting and communicating the differentiation of commodities become increasingly relevant. Thus, the symbolic dimension and territorial bond of the goods are acquiring greater importance within the markets in the so-called economies of signs and space. In this field, several actors from the agro food system are resorting to strategies anchored in the quality that has been derived from territorial bonds as a means of differentiating their products, among which stands out the figure of Geographical Indications (GIs).Of long standing use in Europe, these figures are still relatively recent in Brazil, where they unfold in two kinds: Indication of Origin ( IP ) and Designation of Origin (DO ). Studies on Brazilian experiments have pointed out to the potential of GIs in promoting territorial development, when able to mobilize and contemplate the interests of different social actors, valuing products, practices, identities and knowledge of the territory. But it has also been pointing out to several cases in which these experiences were merely shaped as a sectoral and socially excluding strategy, benefiting a select club of actors. Thus, this research took care to investigate the experiment of the first Denomination of Brazilian Origin, the DBO of the Rice of the Northern Coast from Rio Grande do Sul. Granted in 2010, DBO certified a peninsula of 300 km between the Lagoa dos Patos lake and the Atlantic Ocean, which has unique climatic conditions for the cultivation of the irrigated rice, covering eleven cities of the Northern Coast of the RS. Thus, the objective was to describe the trajectory of construction and acquisition of the Denomination of Origin, identifying key actors, institutions and social groups involved in this process, their relationships and interests, as well as the difficulties, conflicts and potentialities wrapped in getting the Designation of Origin. Correlatively it also sought to identify eventual impact on the promotion process of territorial development on the Northern Coast of Rio Grande do Sul. For such, the research methodologically proceeded to compile and analyze the available material on secondary sources, as well as field trips to the territory of the Northern Coast of the RS for notes, field records and conducting semi-structured interviews with key informants. It is possible to be considered that the experience of the DBO of the Rice of the Northern Coast from Rio Grande do Sul has not yet reached sufficient evidence to suggest that they are promoting a process of territorial development from the GI approach, given its still markedly sectorial character, manipulated by a club of actors, so that its impact remains limited in social, economic and environmental points of view, in the field of the researched territory. / A flexibilização produtiva e a crescente importância da qualidade de bens e serviços são algumas das principais transformações que demarcam o atual estágio do capitalismo. Neste contexto, estratégias capazes de promover e comunicar as diferenciações de mercadorias se tornam cada vez mais relevantes. Assim, a dimensão simbólica e o vínculo territorial das mercadorias vêm adquirindo maior importância dentro dos mercados nas chamadas economias dos signos e espaços. Neste âmbito, vários atores do sistema agroalimentar vêm recorrendo a estratégias ancoradas na qualidade derivada de vínculos territoriais como instrumento de diferenciação de seus produtos, dentre os quais se destaca a figura das Indicações Geográficas (IGs). De longa data já utilizadas na Europa, tais figuras ainda são relativamente recentes no Brasil, onde se desdobram em duas modalidades: a Indicação de Procedência (IP) e a Denominação de Origem (DO). Estudos sobre as experiências brasileiras têm apontado para o potencial das IGs na promoção do desenvolvimento territorial, quando capaz de mobilizar e contemplar os interesses dos diferentes atores sociais, valorizando produtos, práticas, saberes e identidades do território. Mas também tem apontado para diversos casos em que estas experiências se configuraram apenas como estratégia meramente setorial e excludente socialmente, beneficiando um restrito clube de atores. Assim, esta pesquisa ocupou-se de investigar a experiência da primeira Denominação de Origem brasileira, a DO Litoral Norte Gaúcho para o Arroz. Concedida em 2010, a DO certificou uma península de 300 km entre a Lagoa dos Patos e o Oceano Atlântico que possui condições climáticas singulares para o cultivo do arroz irrigado, abrangendo onze municípios do Litoral Norte do RS. Assim, objetivou-se descrever a trajetória de construção e obtenção da Denominação de Origem, identificando os principais atores, instituições e grupos sociais implicados neste processo, suas relações e interesses, bem como as dificuldades, conflitos e potencialidades envolvidos na obtenção da Denominação de Origem. Correlatamente também se buscou identificar eventuais repercussões no processo de promoção do desenvolvimento territorial no Litoral Norte Gaúcho. Para tanto, metodologicamente procedeu-se a compilação e análise de material disponível em fontes secundárias, bem como incursões ao território do Litoral Norte Gaúcho para observações, registros de campo e realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com informantes-chaves. Pode-se considerar que a experiência da DO Litoral Norte Gaúcho para o Arroz ainda não alcançou elementos suficientes que indiquem estar promovendo um processo de desenvolvimento territorial a partir da abordagem de IGs, dado o seu caráter ainda marcadamente setorial, manipulado por um clube de atores, de modo que sua repercussão permanece restrita do ponto de vista social, econômico e ambiental no âmbito do território estudado.